Renters Pay Too Much For Too Little

Renters losing the “rent race”

Things are looking terrible for renters. According to some new data, most can’t afford to actually live where they want, or the places they can afford don’t offer the amenities folks are looking for.

Regretting renting

According to the new survey from RENTCafe, only 17% of renters are able to live in their ideal location. And for the 83% who can’t, sky high rent prices are the #1 reason.

Unfortunately, amenity upgrades just aren’t an option for most property managers. According to RENTCafe, “a location upgrade costs over four times as much as what most renters are willing to pay for.” Upgrades can cost even more in Chicago, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

But it’s not just the upgrades that are out of reach for renters. Rental prices have been steadily climbing for a while now, with the national average rent hitting $1,381 last month, that’s 2% higher from a year prior. If they rise much more, it might mean renters need to move even further from their jobs and ideal locations. Its hitting the Seattle area really hard, with a lot of commuters travelling an hour and a half each way for work. Ridiculous.

Over 16% of the 2,000 renters surveyed said they can’t pay any more than they’re paying now. Another 43% said they could pay only $100 more or less.

Paying too much for too little

To make things worse, another study shows that not only are renters paying more to live in places less-than-ideal, but those rentals aren’t living up to expectations either.

According to analysis from ApartmentList, only 13% of rental properties off in-unit laundry – the most desirable amenity among all renters. There’s also a lack of air conditioning (only 39% of properties offer it) and parking (only 45%).

It’s also worth noting that even when parking is available, it usually costs renters an additional fee. In some dense cities, such as New York and San Francisco, getting a parking spot could add hundreds of dollars to a renter’s monthly expenses.

The study also showed that the amenities rental properties do offer aren’t desirable to most renters. Cat-friendliness – the most available amenity among rentals – is only popular with 12% of renters.